Montgomerie revels as a course leader

In his prime Colin Montgomerie would walk on to the first tee at some European Tour venue like The Belfry or Wentworth and declare he already felt one up on the opposition. For this Ryder Cup, Monty starts one down. On Tuesday, he did not fancy a chip from beside the 12th green but a spectator nearby did.

Monty handed over his wedge and the man proceeded to chip it inches from the hole. "I failed to get up and down so he's one up. Steve was his name. I don't know his surname," Monty said.

According to Sam Torrance, his captain, Montgomerie is more relaxed this week than ever before. "I don't have the No 1 tag and I think that is good," said the man who lived for winning the Order of Merit between 1993 and '99. "I don't have the pressure of the expectation that goes with that and I'm more relaxed because of it."

It is hard to believe that the Montgomerie who is here, the one helping out the rookies and encouraging Lee Westwood, a potential playing partner, is the same Monty who several times stated he might not be able to play because of the back injury that has dogged him all year. He was talking nonsense, of course, but at times he did fear he might not just miss the Ryder Cup, but the rest of the season.

Now he is ready to play five times, should Torrance demand it. "He would play six times if I needed him to," said the captain. The 39-year-old Scot is playing in his sixth successive match and is second only to Bernhard Langer in terms of experience on the home side. "Maybe we are seen as on-course leaders," Monty said. "It's a position that I like and thrive on." In each of the last two matches, Montgomerie has won three and a half points out of five. The way he performed at Brookline in 1999 was heroic. It was not just how he played. "I've performed well in Europe over the years but that was the best I've played in America." It was the way he handled the intense personal abuse from the gallery, something which on other occasions has distracted him from the job at hand.

"I think for the good of the Ryder Cup it needs to calm down slightly," he said. "I wouldn't want that to happen to anybody again, not myself, my team or the Americans.

"On a personal level it was very difficult. I fought like I never have before. I holed putts I wouldn't have normally. The more that was said, the better I became. The more it happened, the more determined I became to succeed.

"There was a negative part of the crowd and I turned that to a positive. Hopefully, that negative part of the crowd won't be here this time but obviously I will be giving my all as I always have in the Ryder Cup."

In the singles at Brookline, Montgomerie played against Payne Stewart, who had won the US Open earlier in the season but was soon to die in a plane accident. During the round, Stewart helped identify a heckler who was thrown out and, when mayhem descended on the 18th green with America already assured of victory, he picked up Monty's ball and handed the Scot a one-hole victory.

"I'll always look back on Brookline with memories, not all of them fond, but because of the singles match I had with the late Payne Stewart. He helped deal with the situation I had with no regard for his own performance. He was so thrilled to be on the Ryder Cup team after winning the US Open and it meant so much to him to represent his country.

"To be drawn against me, of all people, I am sure it hurt his game with everything that was going on. It was a shame that it ended the way it did. He'd had enough, I'd had enough and he picked up my ball at the last. I will always have fond memories of that game with him."

After playing in the victories at Oak Hill and Valderrama, Montgomerie is now part of a team trying to regain the Cup. "It would be nice to have it here in Europe but not because of what happened last time. What tends to be forgotten because of the scenes later in the day is that the US team played hellish well Sunday. Most of their team was well under par on a difficult day.

"It would be a nice finish to Sam Torrance's career for us to win it back for him. He gives us inspiration, emotion, and confidence. He is a very emotional man who brings a lot of confidence to the team. It means an awful lot to him."